Domestic Workers

There are 53 to 100 million domestic workers. The vast majority are women, and many are migrants and children. They cook, clean and provide care for people in their homes.

For decades domestic work was systematically excluded from labour legislation, since it was not recognised as work. As a result, these workers face multiple forms of exploitation including low pay or non-payment of wages, extreme working hours, abuse and even sexual violence and torture. Millions are enslaved in forced and child labour.

With the historic adoption of ILO Convention 189 and Recommendation 201 on 16 June 2011, domestic workers saw for the first time in history their work recognised as work.

Countries that have ratified C189

Countries that have adopted labour reforms and policies since the adoption of C189

News Domestic Workers

In the five years since the International Labour Organization adopted Convention 189 on Domestic Workers, governments in nearly 50 countries have updated their legislation to provide better employment protection for domestic workers, and 22 countries have already ratified the Convention.

In the past few years a political and moral shift has occurred among growing numbers of political leaders which has secured rights and protections for 15 million domestic workers today. Their lives have improved by shifting away from unprotected and exploitative jobs to ones protected by labour laws.

300 women trade union delegates from 100 countries are gathering in Dakar, Senegal, this week to analyse the impacts of the global jobs crisis on women, find ways to organise more women and map out international trade union action to improve women’s job security, pay and conditions as the global economy remains highly unstable.